Vatican Report Admits Popes Knew About Cardinal’s Abuse

A new Vatican report states that Pope John Paul II was aware of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s history of sexual abuse before appointing him as the Archbishop of Washington. (Pikrepo)

The Vatican published a report admitting that the last three popes failed to take action against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick while aware of sexual abuse allegations against him. The 461-page document asserts that when Pope John Paul II appointed McCarrick as the Archbishop of Washington, he and his advisors had heard several reports that McCarrick had sexual contact with priests and other young men. It also indicates that Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis did not take the allegations seriously until 2017 when victims came forward to reveal that the Cardinal had abused them as teenagers.

McCarrick was a prominent figure in the American Catholic Church for more than five decades, at various times serving as a dean at Catholic University and later as Archbishop of Newark and Archbishop of Washington. Before Church officials forced him out in 2019, he held honorary degrees from dozens of Catholic universities, including Georgetown.

Since the document’s release last week, John Paul II’s actions have come under particular scrutiny. One of the most incriminating sections of the report explains how McCarrick used his personal relationship with the Pope to become Archbishop of Washington in 2000 and a cardinal the next year. When colleagues raised objections to McCarrick’s promotion, John Paul II initially decided not to appoint him, but a letter from McCarrick denying any misconduct changed his mind. 

In light of the report, observers have questioned whether John Paul II deserved sainthood and how much responsibility lies with other Popes. Boston Globe reporter Joan Vennuci argued in an op-ed that the Vatican’s investigation was too quick to absolve Pope Francis, who she says failed to properly investigate McCarrick until years into his papacy. “When analyzed by those strictly secular terms,” Vennuchi wrote, “John Paul is no saint—and neither is Francis.” The Boston Globe brought international attention to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in 2002 when its Spotlight team investigated priests in the Boston area.

The Catholic Church is the largest single religious denomination in the world, leading an estimated 1.2 billion people across the globe. In recent years, revelations of widespread abuse from priests and inaction by the Vatican has led to a crisis of faith for many believers. A 2019 Gallup poll found that 37 percent of American Catholics were considering leaving the Church because of sexual abuse scandals. While many Catholics consider Pope Francis a reformer for his outspoken support of refugees and immigrants and his softening of the Church’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights, critics still find fault in his handling of clerical misconduct. The institutional power of the Catholic Church and its ability to capture the faith of its adherents will continue to depend on how it treats victims of abuse.